Artificial Suffering: An Argument for a Global Moratorium on Synthetic Phenomenology
Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness March 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1142/s270507852150003x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Proposes a global moratorium until 2050 on research that directly aims at or knowingly risks creating artificial consciousness on post-biotic carrier systems, and outlines a process for refining this ban through rational, evidence-based constraints that could lead to repeal, extension, or a more nuanced policy. |
Abstract
This paper has a critical and a constructive part. The first part formulates a political demand, based on ethical considerations: Until 2050, there should be a global moratorium on synthetic phenomenology, strictly banning all research that directly aims at or knowingly risks the emergence of artificial consciousness on post-biotic carrier systems. The second part lays the first conceptual foundations for an open-ended process with the aim of gradually refining the original moratorium, tying it to an ever more fine-grained, rational, evidence-based, and hopefully ethically convincing set of constraints. The systematic research program defined by this process could lead to an incremental reformulation of the original moratorium. It might result in a moratorium repeal even before 2050, in the continuation of a strict ban beyond the year 2050, or a gradually evolving, more substantial, and ethically refined view of which — if any — kinds of conscious experience we want to implement in AI systems.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 48
- What would qualify an artificial intelligence for moral standing? AI and Ethics January 25, 2023
- Beyond consciousness: Ethical, legal, and social issues in human brain organoid research and application. European journal of cell biology March 1, 2025
- Consciousness science: where are we, where are we going, and what if we get there? Frontiers in Science October 30, 2025
- A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2025
- Preliminaries to artificial consciousness: A multidimensional heuristic approach. Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025
and 43 more in the library
Cites 14
- Neural Correlates of Consciousness The MIT Press eBooks August 28, 2000
- The myth of cognitive agency: subpersonal thinking as a cyclically recurring loss of mental autonomy. Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- Predictive processing as a systematic basis for identifying the neural correlates of consciousness Philosophy and the Mind Sciences December 30, 2020
- Why are dreams interesting for philosophers? The example of minimal phenomenal selfhood, plus an agenda for future research1 Frontiers in Psychology 2013
- SYNTHETIC PHENOMENOLOGY International Journal of Machine Consciousness May 19, 2009
and 9 more in the library